


Freedom

by Kitty Seeboo (KittySeeboo)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Gen, for the first and last time, in which Eren finally sees the ocean, the price of freedom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2014-04-20
Packaged: 2018-01-20 04:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1497202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittySeeboo/pseuds/Kitty%20Seeboo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Let those wings of freedom carry you home.  AR.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Freedom

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Uwah~ SNK is as inspirational as it is tumultuous! I simply love it, and I couldn't help but be moved by Eren's passion for freedom. Thus, the name. However, the outcome that I've thought of is less than happy… First contribution to this beautiful fandom! An Eren-centric one-shot. *sniffles* Enjoy! Also, listen to the first 3 minutes of Counterattack Mankind if you can. It's so calm and sad that I just… A-Anyway, please enjoy! R&R!

**Freedom**

**Summary:** _It always came with a price, one that would never be enough to stop Eren from fighting. AR._

 **Genre:** _Tragedy_

 **Rated:** _T_

* * *

This was not like any lake or river he had ever seen before. The water was so beautiful and vast and untamed. It shimmered beneath the radiant light that beamed down from the heavens, and engulfed the land, his body, bathing everything with its holy warmth. Even as he lay face down upon the sandy shores, vision blurred, his lithe form wracked with tremendous pain, Eren managed to crawl towards the sound of waves breaking, towards the white light. He forced himself onward until he felt those cool waters brush his fingers. It was only then did he let himself relax.

  
  


He wanted to play within their inviting depths, but his body lacked the strength to fulfill his desires. Still, he was content enough to lay alongside this great body of water. It seemed to hear his silent plea, though, as the waters gradually inched closer and closer. Though they soaked him, and chilled him to the bone,that minor contact placated him.

  
  


So thirsty... One sip could not hurt.

  
  


Eren spat. Too briny. This water was completely undrinkable. Yet, it might have been the sweetest thing he had the pleasure of tasting because -

  
  


_'_ __Armin... I found it. The water filled with salt._ _ _'_

  
  


\- this was his dream. The dream that he had since those blissful days of youth. To traverse the world he had been born into, unafraid and driven by tenacious curiosity. With his beloved friends.

  
  


_**Could they see this**?_

  
  


Despite his rapidly fading vision, his labored breaths, the excruciating pain that ricocheted through his body and into his core with each movement, despite it all, Eren could not remember a time he had been so happy.

  
  


Weak, tired fingers crept around the golden key - the last link to the unbreakable bonds he shared – and limply caressed it. With that final act, he yielded to the ocean's might, and let the waves bathe him with their mercy, let them wash away the hurt, the fear, the dejection. They kissed his tears, dissolving that part of this boy – this mere cell – into their everlasting glory. That would be enough. To know... To know that his efforts had been recognized. That they would never be forgotten. That they were not in vain. That none of those lives had been wasted.

  
  


Those who would inherit this world, they would be the freest among all.

  
  


That knowledge alone brought him peace enough to let go.

  
  


Eren did not have to fight anymore. He had done his part, and he had done a damn good one too. For Mikasa. For Levi. For Armin. For all his comrades. For his father. __For his mother__.

  
  


_'_ __Are you waiting for me, Mother?_ _ _'_

  
  


One day, he would like to see this world again. Where he could simply enjoy and love the life he had been bestowed and permitted to share with so many precious others; where he could see this world in all of its splendor unhindered.

  
  


And as he faded - letting those waters bring him peace, letting the blinding light guide his soul, letting the wings of freedom carry him home - Eren felt freer than he had ever been in his lifetime.

* * *

**The End.**

* * *

 

 **©** **Kitty Seeboo**


End file.
